Add Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-FL) to the growing list of elected officials urging NASA to trade the swamp for sunnier skies.
With a number of space companies already based around the nation’s busiest launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida would be an obvious contender for NASA’s new headquarters. But Haridopolos, a freshman who represents the Space Coast, told Payload there’s one thing everyone should agree on: getting NASA headquarters out of Washington.
“I think what we need to focus first and foremost on is getting it [NASA HQ] out of Washington D.C.,” said Haridopolos, who was named chair of the House space subcommittee on Thursday. “I think that’s the best way to go where the action is as opposed to where the bureaucrats work.”
Haridopolos noted NASA’s mission is “out in the states” and mentioned some other places that could host the HQ, including:
- Texas, which is home to SpaceX’s Starbase, the agency’s astronaut corps, and other space companies, such as Firefly Aerospace
- Alabama, the homebase for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center where many large space companies, including ULA and Boeing, have offices
- California, which boasts Vandenberg Space Force Base and a booming industry hub in LA.
Phoning home: NASA’s headquarters in DC is only about 8% occupied, according to Haridopolos. NASA did not respond to a request for comment.
Documents obtained late last year by the Functional Government Initiative showed that remote work had increased for employees calling HQ home (though Trump’s recent executive order recalling employees to the office could change that). With the building’s lease set to expire in 2028, the agency started the process to evaluate a move, according to the Initiative’s docs, but the search for a new location was “all within the Washington area.”
Touchdown: Florida Gov. Ron Desantis said last month that there’s interest in moving NASA headquarters to the Kennedy Space Center. “They have this massive building in Washington D.C. and like nobody goes to it,” he said. “So why not shutter it and move everybody down here?”
Last week, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who represents Florida’s Gulf Coast, sent a letter to President Donald Trump arguing that bringing NASA to Florida would better integrate a growing commercial space sector with government space activities.
The Trump card? “These are always interesting fights, but the president of the United States is from Florida, and we like our chances in that regard,” Haridopolos said.
